Spiritual crisis of a contemporary in prose by V. Shukshin and K. Balkov

The article analyzes the prose by Russian writer V. Shukshin, and Buryat writer K. Balcov, reveals the problem of the spiritual crisis of a contemporary, which was addressed by the writers through various types of heroes. Shukshin has enriched Russian literature with a special type of «weirdo». Shukshin shows Soviet society in the reign of socialism; the artist has shown on the example of his hero that his contemporary is at a crossroads. He «already knows how he wants to live, but he does not know how to live» (N. Leiderman). The article attempts to show the similarities of Balkov’s hero with a «crank» of Shukshin - both writers’ characters think with pain about the loss of humanity, conscience and other important qualities.